March 02, 2021
Reti prescription tests and more tests
National Party health spokesperson Shane Reti wants to see a double test regime for Covid-19.
He says a rapid antigen test administered alongside the nasal swab would give an indicative result within 15 minutes.
"One of the reasons why it is not the perfect test is because it is not quite as sensitive as the ordinary nose swab but in people who have symptoms it is really good. So you can see how much quicker we could get to people. We would be able to navigate this whole self isolation. To some degree, you would have some surety whether you were positive or not there and then before you left the testing station," Dr Reti says.
He also wants to see an increase in testing resources to cut down wait times the introduction of saliva testing, testing of wastewater at a more granular level than at the main interceptors to track possible outbreaks, and priority vaccination of south Auckland residents.
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